蝌蚪网 Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
How Do Mental Health Treatment Delays Impact Long-Term Mortality?
蝌蚪网 Review
vol. 115,
no. 5, May 2025
(pp. 1672–1707)
Abstract
With a growing mental health crisis and a shortage of behavioral health specialists, those seeking mental health treatment often face long wait times to obtain care. I study how clinic congestion affects mortality for veterans experiencing mental health emergencies. I find that longer waiting times make it more likely that patients miss their follow-up mental health visit, consequently increasing the probability that they permanently disengage from care. A 1 standard deviation increase in wait time between the emergency department visit and follow-up appointment date (11.7 days) increases two-year mortality by about 1.5 percent.Citation
Costantini, Sydney. 2025. "How Do Mental Health Treatment Delays Impact Long-Term Mortality?" 蝌蚪网 Review 115 (5): 1672–1707. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20240226Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H51 National Government Expenditures and Health
- I12 Health Behavior
- I13 Health Insurance, Public and Private
- I18 Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health